How Cool Is This?

Haley is an actor who uses her background in foreign affairs to inform her work on screen and stage. 

We chatted about reconnecting with old friends at SXSW, being influenced by different perspectives from around the world, taking the untraditional path, going from the Cannes Film Festival to monitoring elections in Serbia, finding balance, journaling, Nickel the service dog, her idea for a children’s book, and a lot more in between...

A recent Austin transplant, Larry was at The Lively Grit Daily House spreading the word about WLTHYWISE, his personal finance app that helps students realize the financial potential through personal financial forecasting.

We talked Austin vs. LA, basketball, Mr. Beast, the beach, snowboarding tricks, the efficacy of influencers, and a lot more in between. 

“ I really strongly believe that cool is all from a perspective of yourself. ...

A licensed psychotherapist and sex therapist, Nikita Fernandes was invited to speak at SXSW’s Lively Grit Daily House about the perils of burnout culture.

We sat down with her after her presentation to talk about why people feel compelled to do uncool things, TikTok culture, ostriches, the Internet, and more.

“To say that something is not cool that is generally seen as cool means that you're putting yourself at risk for ...

Event producer, brand activation savant, and music festival curator Harley Jennette joined us in the recording booth at SXSW 2025’s Lively Grit Daily House to talk about music journalism, meeting people at concerts, skateboarders, a snacking event he’s putting on with Lively Local Markets, and most importantly, what’s cool.

“If your friends don’t think you’re cool, then they’re not your friends."

Connect with Harley on LinkedIn, and ...

Jessica stopped by The Lively Grit Daily House with members of Yorkseed, her startup collective. She also brought her infamous wearable QR code. We chatted about her SXSW origin story, how Instagram is unfortunately cool, being legendary, skipping the line in front of your haters, and a lot more in between. 

“ I still try to keep a part of me that's like always be open minded and stay cool. You only live once — I really believe ...

A returning guest of the pod, Chris joined us during his yearly pilgrimage to Austin to chat about deep fakes, ask why we all think sunglasses are cool, talk Chicago style hot dogs, being unique, why arrows don’t hurt as bad as you think, the Psychopath Test, and a lot more in between. 

“ I'm always drawn towards anything that's really different. It's like, how did that happen? That’s where you get the really interesting...

After kicking off the weekend with a presentation about America’s skeptical attitudes towards Generative AI and personalized advertising, YouGov’s Ryan Gross joined us at the Lively Grit Daily House to discuss hobbies vs identities, dogs, pants, embracing authenticity, and more.

"Only your own vision of what is cool, is cool.”

Did you attend the 2023 Coolios at Stand Up New York? You might remember Ryan from playing a few songs at th...

A multivariate speaker at the Lively Grit Daily House at SXSW 2025, Kit Huffman sat down with us just before her Saturday keynote to talk about LinkedIn, fame, ski gear, and most importantly — cool.“You walk in a room and there's that aura… that person that has that absolute charisma. They got the outfit, they have the social media following, they have people that know who they are… They just own a room in a lot of different ways, ...

A veteran of the tech conference scene, Peter brought his unique POV — and love of hot dogs — to his conversation with us at The Lively Grit Daily House. 

We talked about prescription sunglasses, acceptable hot dog toppings, getting his dog on The Today Show, how the Irish say things are cool, “raw data” from strangers, what he saw at CES ‘25, a crawling bedside table lamp, and a lot in between. 

“ I think it's important to be co...

Andrew and Mike made their way to SXSW to show off Mado Dynamic — their new solar-powered, fully automated shades, which we got the chance to test out in the Lively Grit Daily House.

We talked about the product, Curb Your Enthusiasm, the perils of corded blinds, “pane” points, being “baller”, how to get strangers to think your new product is cool, western shirts, The Sound of Music, and a lot in between. 

“ I thinkI'm a good list...

Kati had a busy South by Southwest, speaking at the Lively Grit Daily House, a panel at the convention center, and a session at New Mexico House.

We sat down with her early in the trip, right after her speaking gig at Lively Grit Daily House.

The conversation ranged from basketball to bands to whether or not it's cool to have a political stance (spoiler: Kati says it is!), gaming, coolness as a parent, and a lot in between.

She a...

Between wrangling speakers and everything else that goes into putting on a speakeasy at SXSW, Lisa popped into the studio to talk about why she, Mike, Mary, and the team hosted the Lively Grit Daily House at SXSW 2025.

We talk about dogs, parenthood, the gender dynamics of cool, and more.

“It's your personality and how you connect with people and what your vibe is and how you're communicating and talking and treating people… ...

JC is no stranger to cool. He might be more of an expert than us. We connected at The Lively Grit Daily House to get his take on what’s worth paying attention to. 

We talked about the pressure to talk about AI, not caring, spicy guacamole, Jaws, the Johari Window, British words we’d never heard of before, and a lot in between. 

“If you don’t think you’re cool, other people won’t think you’re cool, and you’re going to think other peop...